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Amusement and theme parks

SKYFOREST >> Two mallard ducks float leisurely in a secluded San Bernardino Mountains pond near a bumpy, unimproved road once used by loggers.A flutter of wings and the occasional snap of a twig from a tree-hopping mountain blue jay is the only sound.If plans unfold as developers hope, this rugged dirt road will see mountain bikers young and old, and the pond will become a classroom for fly fishing lessons.Concealed by trees, the 18 structures below this pond will...

Health care industry

In an updated scorecard from the state, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan’s behavioral health services remained deficient in two of four areas, a recently released report says.The findings of continued deficiencies had been referred to investigators from the state Department of Managed Health Care for possible enforcement action, a spokesman said...

Environment

A state agency has lowered the Public Health Goal for perchlorate, a dangerous pollutant found in many underground water basins across the Southland – including the Rialto-Colton area and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.While the PHG, set by the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, is not an enforceable number, it is used by the drinking water division of the State Water Resources Control Board to evaluate legally binding...

Water utilities

SAN BERNARDINo >> As the drought forces water agencies to conserve, Fontana Water Co. is grappling with a judge’s ruling that it stop pumping what is alleged to be three times its share in the Rialto-Colton groundwater basin.San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Bryan Foster earlier this month granted the cities of Colton and Rialto a preliminary injunction against

Public health

State Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on Friday approved Ontario-based Prime Healthcare’s bid to purchase the six financially ailing hospitals belonging to Daughters of Charity Health System — but placed such conditions on the transaction that Prime said it needs time to review the deal.Both the head of the union opposed to the sale and Prime used...

Public health

A San Bernardino Superior Court Judge has found that Chino Valley Medical Center and its chief medical officer were in contempt of court on 14 of 15 counts of needlessly admitting emergency room patients into the Chino hospital.The admissions were in violation of Judge Janet M. Frangie’s earlier preliminary injunction prohibiting them from admitting stabilized emergency room patients, the ruling said. Chino Valley Medical Center and Inland Physician Services, led by Dr.

Heart health

SAN BERNARDINO >> County public health officials have launched a free 24/7 call center for people who suffer from heart failure and their families.The helpline, available through San Bernardino County’s 2-1-1 operator, is a first of its kind pilot developed by the Washington-based National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.“San Bernardino County has one of the highest rates of heart failure in California,” said Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, San...

Safe sex

A program designed to reduce sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers — by providing free condoms via the mail — has expanded its service into San Bernardino County, which officials say has the state’s fifth highest chlamydia rate.San Bernardino County also ranks 11 among the state’s 58 counties for its gonorrhea rates, according to California Department of Public Health officials.Some 11,688 teenagers receive free condoms by mail through The...

Police

FONTANA >> Fontana Unified School District police have reinstated bicycle patrols after shelving that method of policing more than four years ago.“Bicycles can slip around traffic much easier than automobiles or even motorcycles,” said Scott Mesa, chief of the Fontana Unified School District’s police department.“They can be...

Amusement and theme parks

SKYFOREST >> Flashback to spring 1955.“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” was a hit song on the radio, gas was 23 cents a gallon, and the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.On Memorial Day weekend, what would become billed as the world’s first franchised amusement park opened in this tiny San Bernardino Mountains community.Disneyland’s opening was nearly two months away.On a weather-perfect weekend, with clear skies and mountain...